The PlayStation 5 is yet another breakthrough in the gaming industry, as it features significant advancements that enable Sony to leap ahead. The console offers an SSD for faster load times and better game processing and computing. Other than that, Sony paid a lot of attention to graphics as well, making games as futuristic and realistic as ever.
All these changes brought significant improvements in gameplay, especially online. With a faster performance, it is easy for you to be on top of your game since the PS5 hardware is a lot better than the PS4’s. However, to make the most out of your online gaming experience, just the PS5 isn’t enough; you need a good internet service as well.
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Coming back to the topic at hand, let’s explore the graphics domain of the PS5 and how Sony improved it to the point where it is today:
It Packs Powerful Hardware
Sony finally improved its hardware quite drastically with the PS5. The console uses a custom AMD-powered GPU called the RDNA 2, which is known for its graphical performance. Other than that, the PS5 also uses the Zen 2 CPU, which is designed especially for high-performance gaming.
Software optimizations ensure that the console has efficient rendering and visual fidelity capabilities. Not just that, but the graphics drivers also ensure that you get the best of the gaming experience, so that you don’t miss out on the cool details when you play all your favorite games. Similarly, features like ray-tracing provide more realistic light and reflections, while the PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscales the technology to allow for higher resolution, sharper visuals. I’ll explain more about all this in the sections ahead.
It Introduced Ray Tracing
One of the many things that made the PS5 stand out from the rest of the consoles was its introduction of ray tracing in gaming, which changed the entire narrative of graphics. This process made games as hyper-realistic as they could be, and you can see the effects of ray tracing in games like Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
What ray tracing does is simulate the actual behavior of light, which helps in creating realistic shadows, reflections, and even general illumination of objects. This whole process makes games look even more realistic.
It Includes PSSR Upscaling
Another thing that took the PS5 lightyears ahead of its predecessor is the PSSR upscaling, which made its graphics processing as formidable as possible. The AI-powered technology upscales low-resolution images on its own for them to achieve a higher resolution, such as 4K. This reduces aliases and artifacts and allows for a higher frame rate with higher quality.
When you have a higher frame rate, the gameplay and camera movement are as smooth as possible. In fact, if you wish to see the most out of this feature, you should connect your PS5 to a 4K TV supporting a 120Hz refresh rate. Only then can you see your games performing at their best.
You Can Try Different Performance Modes
There are a lot of games that offer different visual modes for you to play on. For instance, there is the “Fidelity mode” which prioritizes the ray tracing and resolution. Then there is the “Performance mode”, which emphasizes the frame rate of the game that you are playing. This gives you more flexibility as a player, whether you want to have a high resolution or a higher frame rate.
I personally prefer playing on Fidelity mode since I can barely tell the difference between different frame rates. Similarly, I prefer having a better resolution and ray tracing than a frame rate, which is why most of my games are set to function on Fidelity mode.
However, you should try both of the modes so that you can decide which one works better for you.
It Provides A Variable Refresh Rate (VRR)
The PS5 also has a new feature called Variable Refresh Rate (or VRR, for short), which syncs the display’s refresh rate with the game’s frame rate to reduce the overall screen tearing and stuttering. This helps in smoother gameplay.
You don’t have to set the refresh rate manually as the PS5 adjusts itself accordingly, depending on which display you play your games on. The refresh rate can vary between 60Hz to 120Hz, depending on what the game can offer.
These were some of the ways in which Sony improved its graphics hardware ever since the PS4, giving you all the more reason to get a PS5 for yourself if you haven’t yet!